[WIP] KSS Asimov - A spaceship pack - Update 0.1.2 (11/17/2016) [KSP 1.2.1]

[Beale]

Wouldn't it make sense to keep the emitting meshes as separate objects with their own small textures for everything? That way you don't waste memory on emissive textures which are mostly black.

For example this landing gear has a light that's also emissive. It has two 128² textures (colour and emissive). All the other meshes have their own regular 2048² texture sheets.

Another upside is you can keep the pixel density the same everywhere.

http://i.imgur.com/wkrnHZd.png

That seems like a really smart way of doing it, never thought of that

How does KSP reserve memory for textures? I remember something about too many textures per part causing bloat (no matter the texture dimensions), but perhaps that's wrong info.

[v1per]

@Cpt. Kipard: That's an interesting way to think about it. Problem is, my windows aren't modeled. So I'd have to rework the whole UV to accommodate that. I'll keep it in mind for next versions. It isn't impossible, just requires some creativity to make it work I'll do some tests though...maybe I can get away with even smaller textures for the emissives without losing quality.

@Beale: KSP isn't very efficient, as it puts every texture on load to memory. So the number of textures is an issue, as is the size. The bigger they are, the more memory it'll consume. Think of it this way, an uncompressed 1024x1024 image, is 3 mb in size. So no matter how much compression you cram into your texture, KSP will still load 3 mb for that texture. If you have 10 textures, you are already looking at 30 mb of RAM being consumed. That's why KSP uses so much memory. I don't know if this is a problem with Unity though, or it's something Squad chose to do. Game engines like idTech 5, or CryEngine have dynamic load of assets to reduce memory usage.

[_Augustus_]

Give us a download!

[JeffersonFlight]

I really like the idea of this. Great work!

[CaptainKipard]

For those who worry about memory capacity and large textures, LoadOnDemand is a neat plugin that does what it says on the tin.

Also please use MBM. It's the lesser of all evils.

Edited November 4, 2014 by Cpt. Kipard

[v1per]

All right folks...added a download in the first post. Current issues are:

- No IVAs yet

- Service Module has TAC Support resources

- Some of the textures are not yet finished

- No hatch on the Living Module. So you'll need a plugin like Crew Manifest to transfer crew from there to the command pod. I actually don't want to add hatch to this part,

so for now, you'll have to live without it while I come up with something.

Any trouble, let me know here.

Oh, btw, the license is All Rights Reserved for now. I'll change it later if there's any need.

@Cpt. Kipard: I'll use MBM for the next release. You posted just as I finished editing the first post, heh. Which tool would you recommend for that btw?

[CaptainKipard]

Unity. You make your textures as png or whatever, and Unity converts it when you write your parts. There's a drop-down menu in the PartTools script.

By the way I love the fact that you've made a specular channel. So few people bother. It looks great.

Edited November 4, 2014 by Cpt. Kipard

[v1per]

Unity. You make your textures as png or whatever, and Unity converts it when you write your parts. There's a drop-down menu in the PartTools script.

By the way I love the fact that you've made a specular channel. So few people bother. It looks great.

Doh, thanks. Never noticed before. And thanks for the comment on the texture

Oh, btw, I forgot to change to tech nodes for the parts. They are fairly early on the tech tree. But, I'll leave as is for now. If you guys have any suggestions of where to put these, I'd appreciate it.

Edited November 4, 2014 by v1per

[v1per]

I should really be sleeping, but inspiration hit. First concept for the engine:

[mrmcp1]

That engine looks great, is it going to be a bit like a more powerful nuclear engine? Thanks for the pre-release of your parts, I will give them a go later.

[sp1989]

I should really be sleeping, but inspiration hit. First concept for the engine:

http://i.imgur.com/K5bo3KM.jpg

Wow!!! Well done old sport!

[v1per]

That engine looks great, is it going to be a bit like a more powerful nuclear engine? Thanks for the pre-release of your parts, I will give them a go later.

I had an idea for a nuclear engine, different from this, so I think I'll keep this as a regular Liquid Fuel/Oxidizer engine. This one will just be more efficient than the Poodle with less thrust, and maybe a bit heavier. I want to balance it so that it gives me better delta-v than the Poodle, but doesn't surpass the stock nuclear engine. The stock nuclear engine btw, gives about 6300 Delta-V I think.

I should have new updates tomorrow.

[mrmcp1]

Seems like a good idea for an engine and am looking forward to seeing both engines. I think a Delta-V value of about 4000- 5000 would be good. I tried out the parts yesterday and they seem balanced and they look great, I like the fact the the windows light up like the space plane plus parts. Thanks for making this brilliant mod.

[johnwayne1930]

- No hatch on the Living Module. So you'll need a plugin like Crew Manifest to transfer crew from there to the command pod. I actually don't want to add hatch to this part,

Please do a hatch somehow, with stock crew transfer option some people don't want to install "Crew Manifest" or "Kerbal Crew Transfer" anymore.

[v1per]

Seems like a good idea for an engine and am looking forward to seeing both engines. I think a Delta-V value of about 4000- 5000 would be good. I tried out the parts yesterday and they seem balanced and they look great, I like the fact the the windows light up like the space plane plus parts. Thanks for making this brilliant mod.

Glad you liked the parts I wanted to do the parts with as many features as possible.

Please do a hatch somehow, with stock crew transfer option some people don't want to install "Crew Manifest" or "Kerbal Crew Transfer" anymore.

One solution I thought about this, is to add a hatch part to the windows, but keep them blocked so that the Kerbals can't get out through. It would at least enable Crew tranfers. Kinda hacky, but it would solve the problem.

[johnwayne1930]

One solution I thought about this, is to add a hatch part to the windows, but keep them blocked so that the Kerbals can't get out through. It would at least enable Crew tranfers. Kinda hacky, but it would solve the problem.

That sounds like a plan.

[Nertea]

These are very nice, I like your clean texture work. Looking forward to seeing that engine, it is pretty unique and we could always use more non-nuclear orbital engines.

[v1per]

@johnwayne1930: Cool, I'll put on my list for the next release.

@Nertea: Thanks

Speaking of engine, I did some more work on it. The detailing on the torus parts was nice, but it made no real sense, and it spiked the polycount by quite a bit. I'm happier with the detailing now. I also did a new part, which I think will be useful for those that want to use the stock nuclear engine. It's an adapter plate from 2.5 to 1.25. I know the game has these, but this one will follow the style of the ship I also tried my hand at a nuclear engine, but I'm not sure I like it...I'll keep brainstorming that one a bit more before posting anything.

[JorusAton]

Wow! This looks really great. I can't wait to see the IVAs, a full view window like that will be very pretty for scenic tours!

Great work.

[Neutrinovore]

I just have to say this. The only thing I don't like about this mod is the fact that the nose of the command pod is too small in diameter. There is no part in my inventory that looks good when placed there, and for some reason that REALLY bothers me! I thought that the screenshots in the OP were a trick of the light, or that you had some other part attached between the shielded docking port and the command pod, but no, it really is that ugly when anything of 1.25 meter diameter is put there. It's a shame, I was really looking forward to adding these parts to my game.

[v1per]

I just have to say this. The only thing I don't like about this mod is the fact that the nose of the command pod is too small in diameter. There is no part in my inventory that looks good when placed there, and for some reason that REALLY bothers me! I thought that the screenshots in the OP were a trick of the light, or that you had some other part attached between the shielded docking port and the command pod, but no, it really is that ugly when anything of 1.25 meter diameter is put there. It's a shame, I was really looking forward to adding these parts to my game.

I do not share your pessimism, specially when it's such an easy fix The diameter was wrong, and is on the list of fixed things for next release

[Neutrinovore]

I do not share your pessimism, specially when it's such an easy fix The diameter was wrong, and is on the list of fixed things for next release

Oh, jeez, I'm really sorry! I thought that maybe it was a deliberate design choice, for a reason known only to you. I'll do my best to pry my proverbial foot from my (unfortunately actual) big fat mouth.

I really do like the look of these parts, so I will definitely add them to my game and eagerly await an updated command pod.

Again, I'm so sorry for being so... dismissive, I guess. I hadn't really meant to sound that way, but reading my post again I realize that I was being a bit of a jerk. It looks like your work is of above average quality, and I'm sure that it will only improve as you continue to create new parts and refine what you already have.

In conclusion, I certainly encourage you to not let schmucks like me discourage your creativity and abilities. You can do something that I'll never be able to do, and frankly that's great by me. You can create all kinds of neat parts for the game we both enjoy, and then we all get to play with them, yay!

Keep on keepin' on, V1per!

[v1per]

Don't worry dude. I actually had though it was a bit small, but since the only thing I had put on top was the docking ports, I hadn't really noticed. But I wanted to do an asteroid grabber craft earlier today using my parts and the grabber looked really big there. So I just spent some time fixing it and putting in game. Here's the result:

It should fit all 1.25m parts correctly now. I wanted to have the next version include the engine, but I think I'll package this fix, together with the hatch fix in a release before the engine. Hopefully in the next few hours

[Neutrinovore]

Don't worry dude. I actually had though it was a bit small, but since the only thing I had put on top was the docking ports, I hadn't really noticed. But I wanted to do an asteroid grabber craft earlier today using my parts and the grabber looked really big there. So I just spent some time fixing it and putting in game. Here's the result:

http://i.imgur.com/x9Mb36n.jpg

It should fit all 1.25m parts correctly now. I wanted to have the next version include the engine, but I think I'll package this fix, together with the hatch fix in a release before the engine. Hopefully in the next few hours

Ahh, yes, thank you, that does look much nicer! Now we can put on any nosecone or, my preference, the shielded docking port just like you have in this latest pic. Well done sir.

[v1per]

Ok, so I added a new version on the first post. You can also click here and download: Download

This is basically a quick patch before a proper update. I fixed the diameter as mentioned previously and added an airlock to the windows of the Living Module. Unfortunately, that didn't work as I had hoped. The Kerbals will be able to IVA through them, so be careful to not IVA them on the launch pad, as it'll be quite a fall. I tried to block them several ways, but it didn't work.

What I'll do for a next release is just add a proper airlock to the part. It means changing around my original plan a little bit, but I'll it'll be more elegant at least. I'm not sure why Squad implemented the crew transfer this way

Anyway, enjoy and let me know any issues that arise.